🔗 Share this article

On the very date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly brief paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest claim that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of disaster and disaster."

Even though the document mostly codifies the ongoing actions and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric seems taken directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to regain its cultural self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free expression and suppression of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity and self-belief." Per the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether some European countries will have economic power and militaries powerful enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong overtones of two concepts regarded as core for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only political force that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will finally understand that the situation is grave. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be condensed in plain and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.